Bath Festival of Children’s Literature

Фото: telegraph.co.uk

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature, also known as Bath Kids’ Lit Fest, is an annual book festival held in the county of Somerset, England. The event focuses on children’s books. It is the largest festival dedicated to children’s literature in Europe.

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature was founded in 2007 by Gill and John McLay, Bath-based children’s publishing professionals, who have been organizing the festival since its inception. The festival’s partners and sponsors include Bath Spa University, Bath & North East Somerset Council, book retailer Waterstones, local schools and libraries, mass media.

Bath Kids’ Lit Fest usually lasts ten days, spanning two weekends. Various events are held at local schools on weekdays, but the most exciting events take place on weekends in several venues across the city. Each year, the festival features authors, poet, storytellers and illustrators from all over the United Kingdom and abroad. Some events have free admission, while others require tickets.

The goals of the festival are quite simple. The event is designed to entertain children and to encourage them to read more. The organizers aim to create a friendly, family atmosphere in which young festival attendees can meet their favorite authors and book characters, learn something new, talk to each other and make new friends.

Along with Q&As and book signings with special guests, the program of Bath Kids’ Lit Fest includes book readings, games, quizzes, and craft activities. The festival star-studded line up sometimes leads to huge signing cues. At some events, young book fans have to wait up to three hours to get their books signed by their favorite author.